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The Public Responds To A Pet-less White House

Posted by Ron Callari on December 28, 2016

On the paws of my recent post, “2017 Will Be A First For A Pet-less White House,” Dawn Riley, one of my Twitter followers tweeted me an update about the President-Elect’s historical pet-less situation. It appears that while Trump is typically known for switching things up and working outside of the box — in this case — he may not be breaking the mold after all. If he appoints “Patton” to the position of PPOTUS (Presidential Pet of the United States), he won’t go down in history as the first president in 150 years “not” to have a pet in the White House.

So how does this tale (or should we say 'tail'?) all shake out?

How many Generals are too many Generals?

Well, we know that Trump has a predilection for appointing ‘generals’ to cabinet positions — even though during the 2016 primaries — he seemed to think otherwise (when he criticized their lack of knowledge by exclaiming he “knew more about ISIS than the generals.”)

Nonetheless, he has currently appointed three generals to major staff posts. Presently he has selected retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for national security advisor, retired Gen. James Mattis “Mad Dog” for Defense secretary and retired Gen. John Kelly for secretary of Homeland Security.

And then there is Patton. During the run-up to the elections, Trump frequently rued the fact that the military lacked modern-day ‘Pattons,’ a leader who in many respects is how Trump views himself. World War II’s George Patton was an exacting, spit-and-polish commander, rabble-rousing speaker and a general disruptor of the status quo. In Trump’s mind, he was a Machiavellian leader who like himself felt that any means justified the end — no matter how far from reality those ‘means’ could stray.

Meet the Goldendoodle called 'Patton'

As the story goes, a prominent Palm Beach philanthropist named Lois Pope is also a well-known animal advocate. When she learned about Trump’s pet-less predicament, she came up with what she thought would be a workable solution. Pope would donate her 9-week-old golden retriever and poodle mix to Trump.

As a long-time friend of the Trump’s, she proceeded to send a letter to the President-Elect, with a photo of the pooch. Upon receiving it, when showing the photo to Trump's youngest son Barron, it was noted that “this big smile came over his son's face, and it just brought tears to his eyes.”

As a follow-up, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in an email that “no decisions have been made” about the pet. However, Pope said she is confident that the Trumps will take her up on welcoming the puppy to the fold . . . because as a deal clincher . . . she named the pup “Patton.” If accepted, this would bring our story full circle. Trump gets his very own ‘Patton’ and the White House doesn’t go pet-less.

How's that for a shaggy dog story?

Your thoughts, readers? Would 'Patton' be one too many generals in the White House? Will Donald Trump follow suit with his predecessors, or would he be more inclined to break an historical 150-year-old precedent? These are ground-breaking decisions, my friends — so think carefully about your vote, before you cast it in the comment section below.